I have mixed feelings about meetings. I used to hate them with a passion, prefering to code instead. Over time, I came to understand that if you don't have regular meetings the organization will fall apart. People still need to see one another to get a coherent picture of the organization and where it's headed. At my girlfriends old workplace they had "monthly meetings" that happened about once every three or so months. The result was that the organization became dysfunctional because the only source of accurate information was the rumors in the hallways.
It probably is a question of discipline just as you say - but I would prefer a disorganized meeting that at least kept people informed instead of the alternative that no meeting was held and no-one has a clue on what to do.

How many meetings did you have today? This week? This month? Now ask yourself how many of those meetings were worthwhile, versus the work that you could have accomplished in that same time. This might lead one to wonder why we even have meetings at all. At GitHub we don't have meetings...